DENVER — The Giants left the Mile High City down in the dumps after a collapse for the ages.
Perfectly positioned for a season-changing victory, the Giants went from pitching a 45-minute shutout Sunday to allowing four fourth-quarter touchdowns, blowing a 19-point lead in the final six minutes and wasting their own improbable comeback in a 33-32 loss to the Broncos.
How did it happen that Jaxon Dart’s 283-yard passing, four-touchdown performance, Theo Johnson’s improbable touchdown catch and a defensive performance littered with big hits and forced punts went to waste and became marred by allowing 33 fourth-quarter points and a walk-off field goal?
The collapse started innocently enough and ended in a horror show.
The Giants had given back the entirety of their lead when the Broncos took a 30-26 lead with 1:51 remaining.
No problem for Dart, who completed a fourth-and-19 pass that included a 15-yard tack-on penalty. He finished the drive with a quarterback sneak that should’ve saved the Giants from devastation if the defense could hold for 37 seconds.
Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) reacts from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos in Denver, AP
But Jude McAtamney missed his second PAT, opening the door for what every Giants fan knew was coming next: A four-play, 56-yard play that included a big catch allowed by Deonte Banks and ended in Will Lutz’s 39-yard field goal.
It took a circus catch off a deflection by Troy Franklin in the back of the end zone for the Broncos to cut their early fourth-quarter deficit to 19-8. It seemed that wouldn’t matter when the Giants leveled it out with their own tipped-pass lucky touchdown — a 41-yarder by Johnson.
But disaster couldn’t be averted.
The Broncos needed just over five minutes and 13 plays to drive 80 yards for another eight points to make it 26-15.
All the Giants had to do was not feed into the momentum, but rookie quarterbacks ride the roller-coaster, as head coach Brian Daboll likes to say. Especially those with a knack for magic like Dart.
Faced with third-and-5 from the 35-yard line with less than five minutes remaining, the Giants opted not to run, force the Broncos to use their final timeout and punt.
Under duress with the ball in his hands, Dart tried to force a throw over the middle rather than take an incompletion or a sack, and Justin Strnad made the interception. The Broncos quickly scored another touchdown to make it 26-23 and the fans who didn’t leave Empower Field early were rocking.
Daboll again trusted Dart on a third down and he threw an incompletion.
Giants safety Dane Belton (24) reacts as Denver Broncos players celebrate after kicker Wil Lutz (3) kicked the game winning field goal during the second half of an NFL football game in Denver, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025. AP
Once the Broncos converted a third-and-11 to cross midfield, the next touchdown felt inevitable. Sure enough, Bo Nix ran 18 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:51 remaining.
None of that makes sense if you watched the way that the Giants dominated the first three quarters.
Not if you saw the offensive line push around one of the NFL’s best defenses, the defense lay big hits that would make their 1980s predecessors proud and Dart and Skattebo continue the rookie magic.
Nothing felt impossible if the Giants (2-5) were going to follow up wins against the Chargers and Eagles by beating the Broncos on the road.
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The Giants scored touchdowns from 44, 41, 31 and 13 yards away, and Dart found three different targets (Daniel Bellinger, Skattebo and Theo Johnson) for touchdowns to make it like he wasn’t handcuffed by an injury-plagued receiver corps.
Dart’s off-script playmaking was one of two main ingredients — along with two penalties by the Broncos — on the game’s first touchdown drive.
The rookie scrambled around the pocket and made a cross-body throw over the middle that just cleared a defender and reached leaping 5-foot-8 receiver Robinson for a 23-yard gain. He then bought enough time to find a wide-open Bellinger for a 44-yard touchdown pass.
Poise was Dart’s biggest asset on his second touchdown pass.
Dart looked off the defenders long enough to allow a screen pass on third-and-11 from the 13-yard line to develop. Guards Greg Van Roten and a hustling Jon Runyan Jr. got to the second level to throw blocks for the contact-seeking Skattebo, who crossed the goal line and then lowered his head for a collision anyway.
Wil Lutz #3 of the Denver Broncos celebrates with teammates after kicking the game-winning field goal against the New York Giants at Empower Field at Mile High on October 19, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. The Broncos beat the Giants 33-32. Getty Images
The Broncos punted on each of their first four possessions as their offense seemed to determined to try short and horizontal routes that let the Giants fly around. In fact, Bo Nix didn’t lead his offense across midfield until less than eight minutes remained in the first half.
The defense didn’t just pitch a three-quarter shutout. They were enforcers.
Bobby Okereke, Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Dru Phillips and Darius Muasau all had bone-rattling hits in the first half, but none were as big as Dane Belton’s to cap a goal-line stand. Belton was only in the game for the injured Jevon Holland (knee).
Facing second-and-goal at the 2-yard line, head coach and play-caller Sean Payton got too smart for his own good. A second-down pass was deflected by Victor Dimukeje, a third-down rollout eliminated half the field for Nix as he grounded an incompletion and a fourth-down receiver screen to Courtland Sutton failed because Belton charged in with hit stick.
A 13-play, 64-yard drive did nothing to cut into the 13-0 halftime deficit.
Burns took over the NFL sack lead with two in the first half, including one on the final play as the Payton just surrendered into running out the clock. The home crowd booed the Broncos (4-3) off the field.
But there were so many cheers when it ended.